At the excavation site of the "Jiangcun Tomb" in Shaanxi Province, archaeologists discovered the ruins of the Han Emperor's Tomb and also found a special "gear" shaped bronze at the site, which then revealed a big secret of the Han Emperor. If you want to know, let Xiaobian reveal the secret for you:
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In the Bailuyuan area of Xi'an City, Shaanxi Province, there is a huge ancient tomb site, which archaeologists have long identified as a "Jiangcun Tomb", which is no later than the Yuan Dynasty. However, in the process of recent excavations, archaeologists have unexpectedly found that the original "Jiangcun Tomb" is not accurate, and the tomb site in front of them is most likely the mausoleum of Emperor Wen of the Han Dynasty - Baling.
Regarding the beginning and end of the discovery of Baling, it is actually related to a tomb robbery violation. The whistleblower said that in June 2002, a batch of cultural relics unearthed in the "Jiangcun Tomb" were smuggled overseas, and after the investigation of our public security organs, the lost overseas cultural relics were finally recovered, and archaeologists found through the study of cultural relics that the cultural relics in front of them should be dated to the Han Dynasty, and their own style is also very in line with the aesthetic characteristics of the Han Dynasty. As a result, under the proposal of many archaeologists, the excavation of the "Gangcun Tomb" was once again put on the agenda, and the curtain was opened on the reopening of the Baling Tombs.
According to archaeologists, when exploring the "Jiangcun Tomb", they were surprised to find that the 4 tomb passages in the mausoleum were arranged in an orderly manner with each other, almost in a "sub" shape distribution, and the length of the east and west tomb passages exceeded 250 meters, which should belong to the top configuration of the ancient princes and nobles from the perspective of the shape and specifications of the tombs, far exceeding the tombs of princesses and princes unearthed in the same region. In addition, the burial items in the tomb are all noble things exclusive to the royal family, so many people speculate that it should be the tomb of Emperor Wen of Han.
There are many cultural relics unearthed in Baling, a total of more than 4,000 pieces, including more than 1,000 pieces of various types of ceramic figurines, more than 3,000 pieces of gold, silver, copper, iron, pottery cultural relics, and many lacquerware and weapons, although because of the relationship between age, they have been corroded, but for archaeologists, there is still a high archaeological research value. In addition, in the outer pit of Baling, archaeologists also cleared out many seals such as "Zhongsikong Seal", "Zhongsi Chengyin", "Mountain Official" and so on, which directly proved the fact of the existence of Baling. It is worth mentioning that at the same time that archaeologists cleaned up the Baling Tombs, a special bronze was also unearthed, and under careful observation, archaeologists found that it was actually a bronze gear. The diameter of the bronze gear is about 6 cm, which is equivalent to the length of the middle finger of an adult, its whole is round, and the frame structure in the shape of a cross is installed on the inside, and the outside is evenly arranged with 36 wheel teeth, and the size and angle of the wheel teeth are almost exactly the same, which shows that the metallurgical technology and casting technology of the Han Dynasty period have reached the point of pure fire.
What exactly does the gear do? Although modern people do not understand the deep structure of the mechanical principle, they are still very clear about the basic role of the gear. In general, a gear is a device that drives power through bite force, and it is one of the indispensable components in the mechanical manufacturing process. When exactly did the gears appear? According to historical records, as early as the 1st century AD, Roman architects made a water-powered milling machine, and the most important accessories of this type of mill are a variety of large and small gears. At the same time, China was in the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the inventor Zhang Heng also invented the water-powered "water transport hunxiang" time measurement device, which was also equipped with gears inside.
Regarding the use of the Western Han Dynasty Baling gear, many people have put forward their own speculations. Some experts have mentioned that in the Sanxingdui site, a gear the size of a "car steering wheel" has also been excavated, and its role may be similar to that of the Western Han Dynasty Baling gear, but the claim was quickly rejected because there is a difference in size between the two, so the use cannot be the same. Other experts believe that the bronze gears of the Western Han Dynasty May be accessories on ancient carriage and horse devices, because many parts have been found in the tombs of the nobles of the Qin Dynasty, and it may be one of them. However, from the perspective of the transmission structure of the Qin and Han cars and horses, this statement also seems to be not credible, because the transmission device of the carriage and horse at that time was very simple, and there was no need to install a gear structure.
Only later, some experts put forward a reliable theory that the bronze gears of the Western Han Dynasty Baling were probably part of the "guide car" at that time. The "guide car" was an important device used by the army to distinguish the direction in ancient times, and it also had the function of calculating mileage. The Book of Jin records that "the drum cart in the record, the frame of the four, the shape of the si nan, one of which is a wooden man holding a mallet to the drum, and a mallet is played in the line of one mile." Judging from the working principle of the guide car, it seems to be the instrument that needs to be equipped with gears in ancient times.
At this time, a question also arises, why is there no record of gears in ancient books? In this regard, archaeologists speculate that the rulers of the ancient feudal dynasties monopolized almost all the achievements of scientific and technological innovation, let alone let the people get involved in science and technology, so the people did not have the opportunity to contact such high-end technology, and there would naturally be no similar records in the books they wrote, which shows how stubborn the privileged thinking in the heart of the feudal emperor is?
Fortunately, the feudal era has completely disappeared, but the wisdom of the ancients has been preserved forever, and the bronze gear is not only the crystallization of the wisdom of the ancients, but also an important symbol of the endless life of the Chinese nation, inspiring generation after generation to work the road of pioneering and innovating.
References: "Baling" by Huang Wei published by Shanxi Publishing House
Wen xiucai, editor-in-chief of Wenlan Hairun Studio, written by: Special history writer: Changshan Zhao Zi worm